Federal judge says Samoan adoption defendants don't need prison

In the United States, four people charged over an adoption scandal where Samoan parents were tricked into giving up their children, have avoided being sent to jail. A United States federal judge has sentenced the four Americans to five years probation. A fifth person, who helped locate children in Samoa for adoption, pleaded guilty and is yet to be sentenced. The 2007 federal indictment accused the defendants of coercing parents in Samoa into placing their children for adoption, then falsely claiming they were orphans. Kim Kennedy, a board member of Parents for Ethical Adoption Reform, says the case involving Samoa and Focus on Children is not an isolated one.